Risks for Nursing Home Placement and Medicaid Entry Among Older Medicare Beneficiaries with Physical or Cognitive Impairment

Issue Brief (Commonw Fund). 2016 Oct:37:1-14.

Abstract

Issue: More than half of individuals who age into Medicare will experience physical and/or cognitive impairment (PCI) at some point that hinders independent living and requires long-term services and supports. As a result of Medicare’s limits on covered services, Medicare beneficiaries with PCI experience financial burdens and reduced ability to live independently. Goal: Describe the characteristics and health spending of Medicare beneficiaries with PCI and estimate the likelihood of Medicaid entry and long-term nursing home placement. Methods: The Health and Retirement Study 1998–2012 is used to estimate long-term nursing home placement, as well as Medicaid entry. The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey 2012 provides information on health care spending and utilization. Key findings and conclusions: Almost two-thirds of community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries with PCI have three or more chronic conditions. More than one-third of those with PCI have incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level but are not covered by Medicaid; almost half spend 10 percent or more of their incomes out-of-pocket on health care. Nineteen percent of individuals with PCI and high out-of-pocket costs entered Medicaid over 14 years, compared to 10 percent without PCI and low out-of-pocket costs.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Cognition Disorders*
  • Disabled Persons / statistics & numerical data*
  • Ethnicity
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Institutionalization / statistics & numerical data*
  • Male
  • Medicaid / statistics & numerical data*
  • Medicare / statistics & numerical data*
  • Nursing Homes
  • Poverty
  • Racial Groups
  • Risk
  • United States